Salida’s Badfish blows up

Zach Hughes (left) and Mike Harvey debuted their Badfish River Surfer board at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show

Salida’s Badfish Stand Up Paddle Co. debuted its inaugural line of river surf boards at last week’s Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, drawing lots of attention to the company’s river surfer. Born four years ago by Salida mountain paddlers Mike Harvey and Zach Hughes, Badfish has forged a one-of-a-kind river surfing paddleboard that stood out among the dizzying array of stand-up paddleboards on the bustling OR floor.

Badfish also debuted its new Mountain Valley Paddleboard at OR, revealing a 9-foot and 7’6″ that does double duty as a surfer and river runner. Harvey, an engineer with whitewater park design firm Recreation Engineering and Planning, said Badfish harvested plenty of orders at OR for the 2012 paddling season and paddlers can expect to see Badfish boards on the river by next spring.